Published September 25, 2023

Grave Expectations by Alice Bell

Grave Expectations by Alice BellGrave Expectations by Alice Bell
Published by Vintage on September 5, 2023
Genres: Mystery
Pages: 352
Format: Paperback
Goodreads
four-stars

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

About Grave Expectations

Loved this! When Claire’s posh mate from uni, Figgy,  hires her to be the entertainment at her Nana’s birthday party, Claire wasn’t expecting to solve a murder.

Claire’s a medium, a talent that has left her isolated except for her constant ghostly companion, Sophie. I loved the relationship between the two who started off as childhood friends and then after Sophie went missing, her ghost showed up and they’ve been together ever since. 

Once at the party, Claire and Sophie discover that at last year’s party  a murder was committed. Now they have the victim’s ghost which is so traumatized it can’t communicate, Figgy and her family as suspects, and several possible victims. The only bright spot is that Figgy’s brother, Basher, is a former police detective and while he’s a nonbeliever, he agrees that something odd went on and agrees to help.  So, along with Alex, Basher’s nonbinary nibling, the four start investigating.

My thoughts about Grave Expectations

So much humor! From Sophie’s teenage snark to Claire trying to explain why she’s talking to a seemingly empty room when she’s really talking with Sophie. The banter is fabulous.

The mysteries are intriguing – it’s a great twist to know that a murder’s been committed but to not know who it is or even have a body. Lots of suspects with lots of secrets and potential motives.

Great fall vibes with an isolated manor house complete with ruins, a cemetery, and a hidden room, ghosts, and a seance.

In closing

Thank you Vintage Anchor for the ARC of Grave Expectations.

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About Alice Bell

Alice Bell grew up in South West England, in the sort of middle-of-nowhere where teenagers spend their weekends drinking Smirnoff Ice in a field that also has at least one horse in it.

She has previously worked in shops selling boat shoes and polo shirts to people who don’t own boats or play polo, but since 2016 she has worked full time as a video games journalist. In 2018 she became the deputy editor of Rock Paper Shotgun, a popular and respected PC gaming website, where you can find the many excellent reviews and serious articles about hot vampires that she has written. In 2019 she was named one of the 100 most influential women in the UK games industry.

After spending several years in London and Brighton, Alice now lives in Cork, Ireland, where she reads a lot of books, makes crochet animals, and plays video games where you can set things on fire and make elves kiss. She has probably read more detective fiction and watched more episodes of Midsomer Murders than you.

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